julho 15, 2012

A verdade sobre o templo dos últimos dias / Israel's Future Third and Fourth Temples

http://www.chamada.com.br/mensagens/verdade_templo.html

O Que é o Templo dos Últimos Dias?

Em 1989, a revista Time publicou um artigo intitulado "Tempo para um Novo Templo?" em que relatava o desejo crescente de muitos judeus devotos de verem um novo templo construído no Monte do Templo em Jerusalém. O correspondente começou escrevendo:

"Que a Tua vontade seja a rápida reconstrução do Templo em nossos dias..." Esse pedido a Deus, recitado três vezes ao dia nas orações judaicas, expressa um desejo que faz do Monte do Templo em Jerusalém os 35 acres potencialmente mais instáveis do mundo.[1]

Nos anos que se seguiram a esse artigo, nada diminuiu o desejo de reconstruir o templo. Na verdade, a expectativa e os preparativos continuam a crescer. O apoio do público israelense para a reconstrução do templo, antes fraco, está aumentando gradativamente. A tensão no Oriente Médio continua alta e os problemas religiosos e políticos da região continuam nas manchetes em todo o mundo. Mas, mesmo nestes tempos turbulentos, os ativistas do Movimento do Templo continuam a intensificar seus esforços.

Os esforços da política, da diplomacia, da religião e da cultura convergem todos para o Monte do Templo – provavelmente o terreno mais disputado da terra. Uma das tensões mais importantes entre judeus e muçulmanos é a de que uma mesquita muçulmana, o Domo da Rocha, foi construída no local do templo em Jerusalém. O ativismo em torno do templo tem provocado preocupação e conflito internacional e continua sendo um pavio curto que pode detonar a próxima guerra mundial. Não existem soluções fáceis ou simples nesse complexo drama internacional e há muita retórica.

O líder dos Fiéis do Monte do Templo, Dr. Gershon Salomon, que é um dos defensores mais conhecidos e declarados de um templo reconstruído, afirma:

Eu creio que essa é a vontade de Deus. Ele [o Domo da Rocha] deve ser retirado. Devemos, como sabem, removê-lo. E hoje temos todo o equipamento para fazer isso, pedra por pedra, cuidadosamente, embalando-o e enviando-o de volta para Meca, o lugar de onde veio.[2]

Afirmações tais como essa estão carregadas de emoção e são defendidas com convicção. Qualquer atividade relativa ao Monte do Templo certamente criará o caos e trará reprovação de uma ou mais entidades religiosas ou políticas envolvidas.

No entanto, o sonho de reconstruir o templo é realista e biblicamente correto; um dia ele se realizará.A Bíblia ensina explicitamente que a reconstrução se tornará realidade. Mas a alegria será passageira e a adoração será interrompida. Como veremos através de alguns tópicos da história e da Bíblia, o novo templo não será nem o primeiro nem o último a ser erguido. Sua construção é certa, mas os dias turbulentos que a acompanharão também.

Quais são os planos e os preparativos para o próximo templo de Israel?

Muitos planos estão sendo feitos para a reconstrução do templo,[3] e vários grupos diferentes em Israel estão se preparando para isso. Algumas das organizações e atividades incluem:

Os Fiéis do Monte do Templo, liderados por Ger-
shon Salomon, que usam medidas ativistas para tentar motivar seus compatriotas a reconstruírem o templo. Uma dessas medidas foi sua tentativa periódica de colocar uma pedra angular de 4 toneladas e meia no Monte do Templo. O ativista Gershon Salomon demonstra sua determinação quando diz:

No dia certo – creio que em breve – essa pedra será colocada no Monte do Templo, trabalhada e polida... e será a primeira pedra para o terceiro templo. Agora mesmo essa pedra não está longe do Monte do Templo, bem perto das muralhas da Cidade Velha de Jerusalém, perto da Porta de Shechem... e dessa pedra se pode ver o Monte do Templo. Mas o dia está próximo em que essa pedra estará no lugar certo – pode ser hoje... ou amanhã, estamos bem pertos da hora certa.[4]

Outra ação que eles instituíram foi o sacrifício de animais.

O Instituto do Templo, liderado por Israel Ariel, que já fez quase todos os 102 utensílios necessários para a adoração no templo conforme os padrões bíblicos e rabínicos. Eles estão em exposição para turistas no centro turístico do Instituto do Templo na Cidade Velha em Jerusalém.

O Ateret Cohanim fundou uma yeshiva (escola religiosa) para a educação e o treinamento dos sacerdotes do templo. Sua tarefa é pesquisar regulamentos, reunir levitas qualificados e treiná-los para um sacerdócio futuro.

Muitas yeshivas surgiram em Jerusalém para fazer preparativos para a eventualidade de culto no templo reconstruído e funcional. Estão fazendo roupas, harpas, plantas arquitetônicas geradas em computador. Alguns rabinos estão decidindo quais inovações modernas podem ser adotadas num templo novo. Além disso, eles estão fazendo esforços para ter animais kosher (puros) para sacrifício, inclusive novilhas vermelhas. E algumas pessoas continuam a orar no Monte do Templo para ajudarem a preparar o caminho.

Muitos outros preparativos estão em andamento para a volta de Israel a todos os aspectos da adoração no templo.

Qual é a importância do templo da Tribulação?

O templo da Tribulação é importante porque é o templo que muitos judeus em Israel estão tentando reconstruir no presente. Saber o que a Bíblia ensina sobre os templos do passado, presente e futuro dá aos crentes a base necessária para ver o terceiro templo do ponto de vista de Deus. Apesar de que a esperança judaica para o próximo templo é que ele seja o templo messiânico, a Bíblia deixa claro que ele será, na verdade, o templo transitório do Anticristo.

O fato de Israel ter sido restabelecido como nação em 1948, de Jerusalém ter sido reconquistada em 1967 e dos judeus estarem fazendo esforços cada vez mais significativos para a construção do terceiro templo, demonstra que estamos chegando perto do fim da atual era da Igreja e do início da Tribulação. O cenário divino para o fim dos tempos está tomando forma e o centro das atenções é a reconstrução do templo em Jerusalém. A mão de Deus está agindo. (Thomas Ice e Timothy Demy -http://www.chamada.com.br)

Notas

Richard N. Ostling, "Time for a New Temple?" ("Tempo para um Novo Templo?") Revista Time, 16 de outubro de 1989.
Gershon Salomon citado em Patti Lalonde, "Building the Third Temple" ("Construindo o Terceiro Templo"), This Week in Bible Prophecy Magazine, abril de 1995, p. 22.
Para detalhes documentados de preparativos atuais para reconstruir o templo veja Ice e Price, Ready to Rebuild.
Randall Price, entrevista gravada com Gershon Salomon, 24 de junho de 1991.

Thomas Ice é diretor-executivo do Pre-Trib Research Center (Centro de Pesquisas Pré-Tribulacionistas) e professor de Teologia na Liberty University. Ele é Th.M. pelo Seminário Teológico de Dallas e Ph.D. pelo Seminário Teológico Tyndale. Editor da Bíblia de Estudo Profética e autor de aproximadamente 30 livros, Thomas Ice é também um renomado conferencista. Ele e sua esposa Janice vivem com os três filhos em Lynchburg, Virginia (EUA).http://www.chamada.com.br/mensagens/verdade_templo.html

Extraído do livro A Verdade Sobre O Templo dos Últimos Dias

• Um templo judeu em Jerusalém e no Monte do Templo é importante hoje? • E os sacrifícios do templo? • Qual o papel do Anticristo?

Obras dos autores - Timothy Demy, Thomas Ice
Confira: Série A Verdade Sobre
Amostra de leitura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmERZkT6JM
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The Temple Of Ezekiel

by Lambert Dolphin

In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:2-6)

Background

This paper speculates on the Temple of Ezekiel described by that prophet, as understood from a Christian point of view. That building has never yet been built. A straightforward literal interpretation of Ezekiel is assumed.

Two temples of Yahweh have been located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in times past. Solomon's Temple called by the Jews, the "First Temple" was destroyed by the siege of Nebuchadnezzar and the armies of Babylon on the 9th of Av in 586 BC. Some seventy years later, approximately, Jewish exiles were allowed to return to Jerusalem to build an altar, the "Second" Jewish temple, and finally the walls of the city. Although modest in comparison to the First Temple, the Second Temple was later greatly enlarged and expanded by Herod the Great. This latter temple was the Temple in which Jesus was dedicated, and where He taught and cast out the money changers on two occasions.

The Day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Jesus, found Jewish believers assembled for prayer in the temple courts (Acts 2). There the Holy Spirit came from heaven to begin the calling out of a new group of believers (both Jews and Gentiles) -- a body now known as the church of Jesus Christ. Preaching by the Apostles and public miracles recorded in the book of Acts took place in the courts just outside this Second Temple. But the now-magnificent Second Temple was destroyed by General Titus and besieging Roman armies on the 9th of Av in AD 70. This destruction had been predicted by Jesus earlier (see Matthew 24, Luke 21). Since AD 70 no Jewish temple has been built on the Temple Mount, therefore no blood sacrifices for sin have been possible for religious Jews, up to the present day.

The New Testament contains three references to a Third Jewish Temple standing on the site at the end of the present age. Likewise there are Scriptural reasons (Christians believe) that a the coming Third Temple will be followed by a Fourth. The location of the First and Second Temples is a matter of keen interest among devout Jews in Israel today as the Third Temple must be built on the consecrated ground of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the First and Second Temples stood. This site is currently under the control of the Muslim WAQF. This article concerns primarily the Fourth Temple, usually called "Ezekiel's Temple.

The Third and Fourth Jewish Temples

Only a small number of Orthodox Jewish believers in Israel today believe that the coming Third Temple will be built by the Jewish Messiah when he appears. Groups such as The Temple Institute believe it is incumbent upon them to make all possible preparations in advance - and to build the Third Temple when the freedom to do so is gained on the Temple Mount - whether or not the Messiah arrives before or after a Third Temple is erected.

The post-exilic prophet Zechariah (who wrote around the year 500 BC) says that Messiah, whom he calls the "Branch" would Himself one day build a temple in Israel. The Branch will be an individual in whom the offices of both King and High Priest are combined:

"Take from them (the returning exiles from Babylon) silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it upon the head of (Yeshua) Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall grow up in his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord, and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule upon his throne. And there shall be a priest by his throne, and peaceful understanding shall be between them both."' (Zechariah 6:13.)

Christians believe that the promised Messiah, Jesus (Yeshua), has already come to earth once--and will come a second time to establish his millennial kingdom on the earth, ruling thereafter from Jerusalem from the throne of His forefather King David. The New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews describes the once-for-all, fully-efficacious, blood sacrifice of Jesus as the true Lamb of God. In contrast, the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant were but shadows pointing to Messiah's coming. Although the New Testament speaks three times of the existence of a Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem at the end of the present age, as we have already discussed, the fate of that Third Temple is not given in the New Testament.

A great and devastating earthquake is associated with the second coming of Jesus to the Mount of Olives which apparently will destroy most of the city of Jerusalem at that time. Major topographic changes will occur throughout the land of Israel as well.

These changes in the entire land when Messiah comes are spoken of in numerous passages of the Bible:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 40:1-5, quoted in Luke 3:5)
But on that day...says the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused. For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. (Ezekiel 38:18-22)
The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city [Jerusalem] was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague. (Revelation 16:17-21)
For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of the mountains shall touch the side of it; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD your God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one. The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft upon its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's wine presses. (Zechariah 14:2-10)

Thus it is reasonable to suppose that the Third Temple will be destroyed by the final earthquake at Messiah's appearing in glory, or by the final military invasion of Jerusalem during World War III spoken of also by Zechariah in the above passage.

The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 40-48) describes in great detail a temple in Israel that is much too large to fit on the present Temple Mount site. The Temple of Ezekiel proper measures about 875 feet square, and it sits in the middle of a large consecrated area (See inset in diagram below). Ezekiel's temple is also very different in many details from any previous temples that have existed in Israel (or elsewhere). Therefore most Bible scholars believe there will one day exist in the Holy Land a Fourth or "Millennial" Temple.

Ezekiel also describes the reapportionment of the land in specific lots during the millennial kingdom. The temple and the temple district are not part of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem according to the details of this reapportionment. Note that the Temple area will be located to the North of rebuilt Jerusalem:

"When you allot the land as a possession, you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty thousand cubits broad; it shall be holy throughout its whole extent. Of this a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. And in the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him; and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in."

"Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the possession of the city an area five thousand cubits broad, and twenty-five thousand cubits long it shall belong to the whole house of Israel."

"And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes." (Ezekiel 45:1-8.)

"Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in breadth, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the midst of it. The portion which you shall set apart for the Lord shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and twenty thousand in breadth." (Ezekiel 48)

According to many Christian Bible scholars, the Fourth Temple (Ezekiel 40-45) will be "memorial" - a teaching center apparently to instruct men about the holiness of God and proper worship during the coming kingdom of Jesus on the earth. As sinful men and women continue to be born into the world in the millennium, the temple is supposed to remind everyone of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross, as the "Lamb of God," some two thousand years earlier.

Although Ezekiel is a much-neglected book, several good commentaries (Ref. 1, 2) complete with detailed analysis of the chapters on the Millennial temple are in print. In addition Mr. John W. Schmitt of Portland, Oregon (Ref. 3) has devoted many years to a study of Ezekiel's Temple, and to the construction of several fine scale models used for educational purposes.

Ezekiel had planned to enter the priestly service in the First Temple when he reached thirty years of age. His plans were cut short in 597 when King Nebuchadnezzar raided and captured Jerusalem after a brief siege, taking with him young king Jehoichin and "all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths." (2 Kings 24:14). (By way of reference, Daniel and his three friends of the tribe of Judah plus others from Jerusalem had previously been taken to Babylon in a raid by General - soon to be King - Nebuchadnezzar after the battle of Carchemish in 605. That famous battle ended the rule of Egypt in the ancient world).

In the fifth year of his own exile from Jerusalem, that is in 593 BC, Ezekiel was called by God to exercise a prophetic ministry to the house of Israel which he continued until about the year 570. Ezekiel was married, in fact his wife died as a sign from God on the day the siege of Jerusalem began, (24:18).

Ezekiel's temple and the millennium occupies the last eight long chapters of his book. He gives 318 precise measurements of the temple using some 37 unique words that are architectural terms, such as "door-posts," "windows," etc. Ezekiel received this great wealth of information on the millennial temple in the year 573 BC in the form of a vision and a personally conducted tour of the temple by "a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze." (Evidently the Angel of the Lord). "He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand and he stood in the gateway." (40:3) The tour began at the Eastern Gate - which was closed:

"Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. And he said to me, "This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way." (44:1-3)

The present Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is walled shut. Jewish and Arab tradition teaches - probably because of a misinterpretation of this passage in Ezekiel - that the Jewish Messiah is to enter the Golden Gate. For that reason the gate was walled up by the Arabs in the 11th Century after the Crusades, (if not earlier) or perhaps by Suleiman the Magnificent in AD 1539-1542 - to prevent the Jewish Messiah from entering. The much older gate beneath the present Golden Gate, or else another (as yet undiscovered) gate in the Eastern wall could have been the one used by Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding on the foal of a donkey.

In addition to being a very large and complex structure Ezekiel's temple differs in several very important ways from any previously existing Jewish temple. These have been catalogued by researcher John Schmitt, a Portland, Oregon Bible scholar, as follows:

Features Unique to Ezekiel's Temple

No wall of partition to exclude Gentiles (compare Ephesians 2:14) The Gentiles were previously welcome in the Outer Courts, but excluded from the inner courts on pain of death.
No Court of Women (compare Galatians 3:28 (Outer Court and Inner Court only)

No Laver (see Ezekiel 36:24-27, John 15:3)

No Table of Shewbread (see Micah 5:4, John 6:35)

No Lampstand or Menorah (see Isaiah 49:6, John 8:12)

No Golden Altar of Incense (Zechariah 8:20-23, John 14:6)

No Veil (Isaiah 25:6-8, Matthew 27:51)

No Ark of the Covenant (Jeremiah 3:16, John 10:30-33)

Major Changes to the Altar: The sacrificial Altar will be approached by a ramp from the East. Previous altars were all approached from the South. Now there will be stairs to the altar, not a ramp as previously. The top of the altar is now described by the Hebrew word "ariel" [Isaiah 29:1] meaning "hearth of God" or "lion of God." [Rev. 5:5]. (Ref. 3)

If the previous temples, as well as the Tabernacle of Moses, are pictures for us of man as the dwelling place of God, then Ezekiel's temple may be intended to teach us about the marvelously new resurrection bodies waiting for every believer when he leaves this present life (2 Corinthians 5:1-5).

Believing saints from the Old Testament epoch, saints from the Christian era, and all those raised from the dead at the rapture and at the second coming of Christ in glory receive new resurrection bodies, like that of Jesus, as detailed in 1 Corinthians 15. Yet, after the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus will gather all the survivors of the nations outside Jerusalem and determine which individual sons and daughters of Adam are worthy to enter the Millennial Kingdom on earth. This is the famous judgment of the sheep and the goats described by our Lord in Matthew 25:31-46, and also given by the prophet Joel:

"For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgment with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations, and have divided up my land, and have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and have sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it. "What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will requite your deed upon your own head swiftly and speedily. For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. But now I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and I will requite your deed upon your own head. I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off; for the LORD has spoken." Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior."
Hasten and come, all you nations round about, gather yourselves there. Bring down thy warriors, O LORD. Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the wine press is full. The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And the LORD roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shake. But the LORD is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwell in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy and strangers shall never again pass through it. "And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the stream beds of Judah shall flow with water; and a fountain shall come forth from the house of the LORD and water the valley of Shittim. "Egypt shall become a desolation and Edom a desolate wilderness, for the violence done to the people of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem to all generations. I will avenge their blood, and I will not clear the guilty, for the LORD dwells in Zion." (Joel 3)

The criterion for judgment at this time will be how individuals Gentiles have treated the Jews, especially believing Jews who constitute "true Israel." The "Sheep" category clearly represents those righteous gentiles whose hearts are right before the Lord, that is they are all regenerated men and women, but individuals who have not previously received their resurrection bodies. They will repopulate the earth, according to Christian belief, during the thousand year reign of Messiah under greatly improved living conditions:

"But be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their children with them. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the LORD." (Isaiah 65:18-25)

During this thousand year reign of Yeshua over a restored earth, with Satan locked away in the abyss (Rev. 20:2), sinners will be born on the earth and will need to be instructed in matters of God's grace and mercy. For this reason most commentators on Ezekiel believe that the Fourth Temple will be Memorial in nature, looking back in time to the cross of Jesus Christ, just as the Tabernacle and First and Second Temples pointed ahead in time to the cross. The prescribed worship services of Ezekiel's temple are also described for us in great detail by the prophet. The priests presiding over the temple services will be of the line of Zadok (44:15) who proved faithful after the failure of the Levitical priests in the line of Eli (1 Samuel 2:35, 1 Kings 2:26-27, 35). The Millennial Temple will not have a separate High Priest. Instead the previously separate ofiices of King and Priest will be combined in the Messiah as noted, (See Zechariah 6:9-15)

Approximate Distribution of Land to the Twelve Tribes during Messiah's Coming Reign

In addition to the physical differences in Ezekiel's Temple a number of changes are made in the annual cycle of Jewish feasts. It is very clearly that the Millennial Temple sacrifices are definitely not a re-instatement of the Mosaic system, (see Ref. 4).

Another feature of the Millennial Temple is the presence of a great stream of fresh water which issues from beneath the Southern wall of the Temple. Ezekiel describes this river, which divides into two branches and flows Westward into the Mediterranean Sea and also Eastward into the Northern end of the Dead Sea, freshening all the land South of Jericho,

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces toward the east; and the water was coming out on the south side. Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water; and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water; and it was up to the loins. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen; it was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.

And he said to me, "Son of man, have you seen this?" Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea; from Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets; its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing." (47:1-12)

This same stream of water seems to be identical to that described in Zechariah 14:8 and Joel 3:18. If so then the site of the Fourth Temple would seem to be on or near the present Temple Mount in Jerusalem. If this is so, then the city of Jerusalem will evidently be rebuilt to the South since the temple holy district is specified in Ezekiel 48 as North of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem. Some commentators have suggested that the Millennial Temple will be located at Shiloh, 31 kilometers to the North of present day Jerusalem.

A second reason for believing that the site of Ezekiel's Temple may be near the present Temple Mount is found in Ezekiel's description of the return of the Lord to dwell forever with His people Israel. The Lord says the people will no longer defile the temple site with the dead bodies of their kings. Since there are so many cemeteries on and around the Temple Mount this would require a special ritual cleansing of the entire area (described by Ezekiel), and of course the relocation of the rebuilt City to the South of the Temple district as we have already noted:

Afterward he (the angel of the Lord brought me (Ezekiel) to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the east; and the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision I saw was like the vision which I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision which I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple; and he said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel for ever.
And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their harlotry, and by the dead bodies of their kings, by setting their threshold by my threshold and their doorposts beside my doorposts, with only a wall between me and them. They have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed, so I have consumed them in my anger. Now let them put away their idolatry and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, and I will dwell in their midst for ever. "And you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple and its appearance and plan, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities. And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, portray the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, and its whole form; and make known to them all its ordinances and all its laws; and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe and perform all its laws and all its ordinances. This is the law of the temple: the whole territory round about upon the top of the mountain shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple. (Ezekiel 43:1-12)

Jerusalem, the rebuilt city in Israel, on earth, during the Millennium, should not be confused with the heavenly city known as "New Jerusalem," referred to in the New Testament, (Hebrews 11:16, 12: 18-29, Revelation 21-22) which seems to take the form of a great orbiting or stationary satellite above the earth. This vast city whose dimensions are of the order of 1500 miles on a side, may be connected to the millennial temple by a space-time gate way. The New Jerusalem does not include a temple (Revelation 21:22, 23) - "The Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb, are its temple."

During the millennial kingdom sin will continue to exist on the earth, but all forms of defilement and sin are clearly excluded from the New Jerusalem, and guarded against by the complex rituals proscribed for the Temple of Ezekiel on the earth.

Ezekiel saw in a great vision the departure of the glory (the shekinah) of God from the Temple of Solomon, (Ezekiel 9:1-11:25). In a subsequent vision of Jersualem in 573 BC, eighteeen years later, Ezekiel was shown the future return of the Shekinah to Israel and to the Temple (43:1-12). That future day had also been forseen by the prophet Isaiah:

In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped. And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy--everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain. (Isaiah 4:2-6)

Although we are given much information in the Bible on Tabernacle and Temples, the principal Biblical emphasis is not on buildings but on men and their character, scripture does not negate the use of shadows and symbols.

"Thus says the Lord: 'Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest. All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word."' (Isaiah 66:1, 2)

Diagrams of Ezekiel's Temple from Reference 1

Other Relevant Diagrams

References

1. Ezekiel, by Ralph Alexander, Moody Press, Chicago, 1976.2. Ezekiel, by John B. Taylor, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 60515, 1969.3. John W. Schmitt, Messianic Temple Ministries, 1633 SE 38th Portland, OR 97233. (John Schmitt was a speaker at one of our conferences on the Temple Mount several years ago in Jerusalem. He spoke at that session on Ezekiel's Temple. He is from Portland and had built several models of Ezekiel temple and for some years was presenting his model at churches in his area. Photo: http://www.pauljab.net/temple/Johnsmodel.html. I (LTD) have known John many years and encouraged him, when we first got acquainted, to travel to Israel and I urged him to write a book. He is the only one I know who writes these days on Ezekiel's yet-to-be-built temple, so his research is much needed. At last John's book is out and is one you will want in your library: Messiah's Coming Temple: Ezekiel's Prophetic Vision of the Future Temple by John W. Schmitt and J. Carl Laney Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, MI 1997. 188 pages, paperback, about $11.00. See also The Millennial Temple, by Paul Jablonowski 4. Israelology: The Missing Link in Systemic Theology, by Arnold G. Fruchenbaum, Ariel Ministries Press, Box 3723, Tustin, CA 92681, 1992.

4. A correspondent has noted that Ezekiel's cubit was not the normal 18 inch cubit, but a long cubit, 20.679 (or 21) inches. The reed in Ezekiel was 6 long cubits in length.

The Temple of Ezekiel

by Lambert Dolphin
Email: lambert@ldolphin.org
Web Pages: http://ldolphin.org/

Revised May 31, 1995, April 19, 1996, January 18, 1997, November 7, 1997. March 1, 2000. December 4, 2001. July 14, 2002. July 13, 2004.

http://www.templemount.org/ezektmp.html

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The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Long Page—Please Scroll Down...

Aerial photo of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem showing the Proposed Northern,
Central and Southern Sites for the First and Second Temples.

"As the navel is set in the centre of the human body,
so is the land of Israel the navel of the world...
situated in the centre of the world,
and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel,
and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem,
and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary,
and the ark in the centre of the holy place,
and the foundation stone before the holy place,
because from it the world was founded."
Midrash Tanchuma, Qedoshim.

Brief Summary of the Problem of Locating the Temple Site

Where Were the First and Second Temples Located?

Three Theories Summarized and Compared:

The Temple Mount at the Dome of the Rock (Dr. Leen Ritmeyer, Dr. Dan Bahat)
The Temple Mount to the North (Dr. Asher Kaufman)
The Southern Hypothesis Introduced (Tuvia Sagiv)

Listen to the 1993 Temple Mount Conference Lectures by Dr. Asher Kaufman, Dr. Dan Bahat, Tuvia Sagiv, Rabbi Chaim Richman, Gershon Salomon, and others. Some 1995 Temple Mount Conference Lectures in a study on The Coming Temple by Dr. Chuck Missler are here.

NEW! Temple Mount Videos page Created June 2013

Evidence for the Temple Location South of the Dome of the Rock

Tuvia Sagiv's Research Papers

Reports, a video tape and posters are available by mail from Tuvia Sagiv. Ordering information
Tuvia Sagiv and the Third Temple Location problem is the subject of an article "What if This Isn't the Western Wall," in the November 23, 1998 issue of The Jerusalem Report, available on Internet.

Looking North from El Kas Fountain,
Tuvia Sagiv's Proposed SouthernTemple Site

History of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

Israel Peace with Iran and Neighbors is an open letter regarding the Temple Mount and Peace Solutions—It appears obvious that the key to peace is co-existence on the Temple Mount, without coercion of one monotheistic faith by another. The author calls for a ceasing of all belligerent Jihad tactics from the Moslems, Jewish dominance, or preaching by Christians. We can show only that we have the tolerance of other beliefs and will observe mutual Temple Mount access by all three faiths in specific areas that conform to the needs of each faith. The author writes with emphasis and points to Israel's history and specific Biblical prophecy.

The Western Wall. Tuvia Sagiv's "Southern Location," lies due East of this Wall

Maps

The Ark of the Covenant
Many authorities believe the Ark is located under the Temple Mount.

Reference Links

The Beit HaMikdash

http://www.betemunah.org/mikdash.html

The Beit HaMikdash

By Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)

A Critical Connection

The Temple as a Body

The Luz Connection

The Mishkan (not the Temple) as a Body:

The Beit HaMikdash is Female

Creation and the Mikdash

Conclusion

Pictures

In this study I would like to examine the connections between the human body and the Temple. This edifice is commonly referred to by our sages as the Beit HaMikdash, the house of holiness.

Mikdash is a combination of two Hebrew words: MAKOM KODESH. Makom = Place and Kodesh = Holy. Thus the Mikdash is the holy place. The place where HaShem put his name.

Rabbi Dessler[1] tells us a bit about this ediface:

The Desert Tabernacle, the details of whose construction take up the whole of parashat Terumah and much of the succeeding parshiyot, is sometimes called "sanctuary" [mikdash] ("And they shall make Me amikdash"^{^[2]}). More frequently, however, it is called mishkan, which means "dwelling place".

The meaning of mishkan, the dwelling place (so to speak) of HaShem, is clearly expressed in the verse: "And so shall he (the kohen gadol) do to the Tent of Meeting which dwells with them in the midst of their defilement".[3] HaShem rests His presence amongst us even in the midst of our defilement because He knows that we have the ability to raise and extricate ourselves from defilement. How? Through the Torah. The Tent of Meeting is so called because it is the meeting place of HaShem and Israel, the place where Torah is transmitted. In parashat Tetzaveh, the Tent of Meeting is described as the place, "Where I shall meet with you [plural, i.e. Israel], where I will speak to you [singular, i.e. Moshe]".[4] "To speak to you" means to transmit Torah, and Torah learning creates a closeness between us and HaShem, a sense of joy and satisfaction. "The commands of HaShem are straightforward and rejoice the heart".[5] All this is included in the term mishkan.

Mikdash, on the other hand, means a place of holiness. Holiness means transcendence. We feel the absolute gulf which separates the Creator from His creatures. Our response must be service, offerings andprayer, by which we recognize our lowliness before the grandeur of the Almighty. "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."[6]

But nevertheless, we find that mishkan is sometimes called mikdash and mikdash is sometimes called mishkan.[7] How they are called reflects what they are in reality, for their meaning and existence are reallyone. If mishkan represents the joy in the presence of HaShem, and mikdash represents the awe one feels in the transcendence of HaShem, then together they form one whole. We have to "rejoice in trembling".[8] And the Rabbis say: "I experience fear in the midst of my joy and joy in the midst of my fear".[9]

This is the end of Rabbi Dessler’s comments.

Go and stand before a mirror. What do you see? A head, two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Look down and you will see a neck which leads to the internal areas of the heart, stomach, etc.

You are looking at a human being. But if you look closer you will see one of the most profound creations in HaShem’s world, a miniature Beit HaMikdash, a miniature Temple, and a miniature world!

This study was precipitated by the following pasuk:

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8 And you shall make make a sanctuary for me; that I may dwell among them.

The Or Hachayim asks why the Torah states “and you shall make a mikdash (Sanctuary) for me”, and then in the next verse it says “the form of the Tabernacle…so shall you do”. Are we talking about themikdash (Sanctuary) or the Mishkan [10] (Tabernacle)? The Or Hachayim writes that the commandment to make a Mikdash for HaShem is not only referring to the time when Bne Israel were in the desert, but includes all of Jewish history from the time that we were in the desert to the time that we entered eretz Israel. He writes that when the Jewish people are in eretz Israel, and even in a time of Galut (exile), themitzva to build the mikdash still applies.

The Malbim answers this question, in his work entitled Remazey HaMishkan (Illusions of the Sanctuary), he explains that we each have to build inside of ourselves a mikdash, that each one of us must provide a residence for HaShem’s presence.

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the renowned student of the Gaon of Vilna, said that the commandment to construct a Tabernacle is primarily a personal commandment; every Jew is “a living tabernacle in miniature.”HaShem rests the Shechinah, His Divine Presence, primarily in the human heart.

Excerpt from Sefer Charedim – The Book of the Awestruck (R. Eliezer Azkari, c. 1550) 66:27 – You are a Temple for the presence of the Holy King! As such, it is extremely important that you sanctify your heart and your soul, as well as all 248 limbs (bones[11]) of your body.[12] It is written, “The Holy One is in your midst [be’kir’becha]” (Hoshea 11:9), and “They [the people] are HaShem’s Temple“ (Yirmiyahu 7:4), and “Be holy, for I, HaShem, am holy” (Vayikra 19:2), and “I will place My Mishkan [Tabernacle] in your midst [be’tochechem]” (Vayikra 26:11). HaShem means what He says: “I dwell in you!”

Rabbi Chaim explains: The Zohar compares every Jew to the Temple (i.e. the permanent Tabernacle). Just like the center of the Temple is the Holy of Holies, the center of the human being is his heart. His headis above him, his feet are beneath him, so the heart which is at the midpoint of his trunk, is the actual center of his being. Just as the holiness that is the source of all that is good in the world emanates from the Holy of Holies, the life force of the human emanates from the heart.

In his commentary on Chumash, the Malbim explains that the Beit HaMikdash is a macrocosm of the human body: If you look at a plan of the Heichel (Sanctuary) in the Beit HaMikdash, you will notice that the placement of the various vessels, the altar, the table, and the Menorah all corresponds to the location of the vital organs in the human body. In other words, each of the Temple’s vessels represents a human organ.

The Zohar and the Midrash Ne’elam both state that the 613 parts of the Mishkan directly correlate to the 613 parts of the human body.

Thus we have in our tradition:

613 Mitzvot - 248 positive Mitzvot and 365 injunctions.

613 Human body parts - 248 limbs[13] and 365 sinews. The Mishna speaks of these 248 members:

Oholoth Chapter 1 MISHNA 8. THERE ARE TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHT MEMBERS IN A HUMAN BODY: THIRTY IN THE FOOT, [THAT IS] SIX TO EVERY TOE,[14] TEN IN THE ANKLE, TWO IN THE SHIN, FIVE IN THE KNEE, ONE IN THE THIGH, THREE IN THE HIP,[15] ELEVEN RIBS, THIRTY IN THE HAND, [THAT IS] SIX TO EVERY FINGER, TWOIN THE FORE-ARM, TWO IN THE ELBOW, ONE IN THE UPPER ARM AND FOUR IN THE SHOULDER, [THUS MAKING] ONE HUNDRED AND ONE ON THE ONE SIDE [OF THEBODY] AND ONE HUNDRED AND ONE ON THE OTHER; THEN EIGHTEEN VERTEBRAE IN THE SPINE, NINE [MEMBERS] IN THE HEAD, EIGHT IN THE NECK, SIX IN THE KEY OF THE HEART,[16] AND FIVE IN THE GENITALS. EACH ONE [OF THESE MEMBERS] CAN DEFILE BY CONTACT, CARRIAGE OR OVERSHADOWING. WHEN IS THIS SO? WHEN THEY HAVE UPON THEM [THEIR] APPROPRIATE FLESH,[17] BUT IF THEY HAVE NOT [THEIR] APPROPRIATE FLESH UPON THEM, THEY CAN DEFILE BY CONTACT AND CARRIAGE BUT CANNOT DEFILE BY OVERSHADOWING.[18]

613 Different parts and vessels in the Mishkan.

[The Midrash compares the Mishkan as a whole to the human body, and each of its implements and components to various human organs and body parts. The beams supporting the Mishkan symbolize the ribs, the curtains of goats’ hide correspond to a person’s skin, and the Shulchan represents the stomach. The Kiyor suggests the liquid element of the human body. The Menorah, provider of light in the Mishkan, represents the human mind, which provides us with the light of comprehension and understanding. The Keruvim, which spread their wings over the Aron, correspond to the lungs, which are positioned over theheart, and the Aron corresponds to the human heart. ]

This picture of the Beit HaMikdash representing a man, as a place where HaShem resides, is also explicitly stated in the Nazarean Codicil:[19]

I Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Finally, we can understand that the Temple was not only the picture of a man, but it was the picture of the perfect man, the Mashiach:

Yochanan (John) 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Yeshua answered and said unto them, Destroy thistemple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of hisbody.

Ephesians 2:19-22 So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow–citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, 20 being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Mashiach Yeshua himself being the chief corner stone; 21 in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

A Critical Connection

When the men of the Great Assembly removed the yetzer hara (evil inclination) of avoda zara (idolatry) from the inner sanctum of the Beit HaMikdash, the effect was its removal from all our “work stations” connected to the “mainframe” in the Kodesh HaKadashim (Holy of Holies) in Jerusalem:

Yoma 69b He answered: One does not pronounce the Ineffable Name outside [the limits of the Temple]. But may one not? Is it not written: And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. [. . . and Ezra praised the great God]. And R. Giddal [commenting thereupon] said: He magnified Him by [pronouncing] the Ineffable Name?-That was a decision in an emergency. And [they] cried with a great [loud] voice unto the Lord, their God. What did they cry? — Woe, woe, it is he who has destroyed the Sanctuary, burnt the Temple, killed all the righteous, driven all Israel into exile, and is still dancing around among us! Thou hast surely given him to us so that we may receive reward through him. We want neither him, nor reward through him! Thereupon a tablet fell down from heaven for them, whereupon the word ‘truth’ was inscribed. (R. Hanina said: One may learn therefrom that the seal of the HolyOne, blessed be He, is truth). They ordered a fast of three days and three nights, whereupon he was surrendered to them. He came forth from the Holy of Holies like a young fiery lion.

From this Gemara we see that every one in the entire world is connected to the Beit HaMikdash. In some way we ARE the Beit HaMikdash!

When Idolatry was excised from the world, it was visibly manifesting as flame from the Kodesh Kodashin. But, the effects were felt in every human being from that time forward. From that time forward, human beings no longer had a craving for idolatry that was as strong as the craving for food or sex. We now possess only a shadow of that craving.

Thus we see that while idolatry lived in the hearts of men until that fateful days, once it was removed from the hearts of men, it was also removed from the Beit HaMikdash. This shows that the Beit HaMikdash pictures men and is meant to be seen as a picture of a man (i.e. Mashiach).

The Temple as a Body [20]

“Gold” is the soul;

“silver,” the body;

“copper,” the voice;

“blue,” the veins;

“purple,” the flesh;

“red,” the blood;

“flax,” the intestines;

“goat hair,” the hair;

“ram skins dyed red,” the skin of the face;

“tachash skins,” the scalp;

“shittim wood,” the bones;

“oil for lighting,” the eyes;

“spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,” the nose, mouth, and palate;

“shoham stones and gemstones for setting,” the kidneys and the heart.

—Midrash HaGadol

THE ANALOG OF THE IBN EZRA

The analog first boldly drawn by the Ibn Ezra (12^th century, Spain) in his commentary to Bereshit 1:26 now returns with unusual force:

…God forbid that the Creator should have any corporeal qualities or tangible form. Behold the text proclaims “‘to whom shall you compare Me that I might be similar?’ says the Holy One” (Yeshayahu 40:25). Rather, because the supernal soul of man is eternal, it therefore shares an affinity with God. So too the soul is incorporeal and it also fills the whole body with life. The human body is thus like a miniature world. Blessed be God who began by fashioning the great cosmos and concluded by fashioning man, the microcosm!

For Ibn Ezra, there was a parallel to be drawn between HaShem the Creator and the soul of the human being. HaShem is utterly without body or form, but His eternal spirit of “glory” fills the material cosmos and inspires it with life and meaning. Similarly, though we must regard Ibn Ezra’s words with caution as a provocative analog that can convey only part of the matter, the human soul, ethereal and eternal, grants life to the human body, filling it with potential and purpose after the manner of the Creator. And the Mishkan as well, representing the proverbial link between heaven and earth, is thus constructed according to a similar dynamic. We return once again to the laden words of the Ibn Ezra, this time in his discussion of the meaning of the Mishkan, where he advances the explanation of Rav Sa’adia Gaon:[21]

The Gaon explained that there are in fact three worlds. This terrestrial world is the macrocosm, the Mishkan is intermediate, and the human body is the microcosm…[22]

While the Gaon goes on to draw specific comparisons between heavenly elements, the items of the Mishkan, and the organs of the human body, who could deny the overall persuasiveness of his linkage?

Head = Heichal

The Ohel Moed (the Tent of Meeting) was divided into two rooms. The back room was called the Kodesh HaKadashim, the Holy of Holies. Placed in this room was the Aron, Holy Ark, the most sacred of the articles in the Sanctuary. The Holy Ark consisted of three boxes, one inside the other. The innermost box contained the two tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved. These Commandmentswere the outline of all the mitzvot in the Torah. It represented the brain of the perfect man. Just as a brain has two hemispheres, the right and the left, so too there were two tablets. Just as man contemplates only Torah ideas and ideals, so too the Ark contained the essence of Torah. Just as the brain is triply encased in a skull with two membranes, the tablets were also encased in three boxes.

We can also view the brain in a second way: The brain is enclosed in a double membrane, and the entrance to the Holy of Holies was through a double curtain.

Brain = Ark of the Covenant.

The brain has two major portions, the left and right hemispheres of the brain. These two correspond with the two Luchot, the tablets on which were inscribed the ten commandments.

The Holy of Holies houses the Ark of the Covenant topped by the two winged Kruvim (cherubim), one of which represents HaShem, while the other represents Israel. The Divine voice heard by man emerges from between these two Kruvim.

When Moses arrived at the Ohel Moed, the Tent of Meeting, to speak with HaShem, he heard the voice speaking to him from atop the cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two Kruvim, and He spoke to him.[23]

Additionally, as Torah is wisdom and is stored in the ark, so, too, does wisdom come from the brain of man.

Cranial Membrane = Curtain.

Chazal teach that the curtain moved rhythmically in and out as though moved by the breath of a man.

Eyes = Menorah + Shulchan.

The eyes are used for two purposes. One is used for intellectual pursuits, enlightenment, symbolized by the light of the Menorah. Just as the Menorah’s fuel was the purest of oil, so too should man strive for thepurity of enlightenment. According to the Kabbalists, there are seven areas of spiritual wisdom and the seven branches of the Menorah represent them. The second function of the eyes is for survival: to see and avoid pitfalls, to search out food in order to live; this is symbolized by the showbread (Shulchan).

Ears = Chamber of Hewn Stone

As the ears are partly internal and partly external to the body, so, too, the Sanhedrin met in the chamber of hewn stone which was partly inside the Temple and partly outside.

The Sanhedrin “heard” cases.

Nose = Golden Altar of Incense

Just as the nose is the organ of smell and is located in the center of the face, the Golden Altar was located in the center of the room and upon it the fragrant smelling incense was offered. The incense had great mystical meaning and represented the spreading of pleasantness among men. This offering brought atonement for gossip and tale bearing.

Mouth = Door to the Heichal[24].

The opening of the Kodesh (the Holy place), which led to the Azara (Courtyard), was at the bottom of the room. It represented the mouth of man. Here the kohanim (Priests) stood when they uttered the priestly benediction every morning.

Why did HaShem communicate to Moshe through the child-like Kruvim? Are the Kruvim the mouth?

Salivary glands = Laver.

As the salivary glands provide water at the entrance to the mouth, so too does the laver provide water at the “mouth” of the Heichel (the sanctuary building).

Heart = The base of the altar

The sacrificial blood was dashed against the altar and then poured out at the base of the altar. As the altar has four corners, so too does the heart have four chambers. As the heart has a higher and and lower part, so too does the altar have a red line that marks the upper and lower parts (some offerings had their blood dashed above and some had the blood dashed below).

Stomach = Altar

Outside the Ohel Moed / Heichel, in the center of the courtyard, was the main Altar upon which the sacrifices were offered and consumed. This represents the stomach and internal organs of man.

The sacrifices were also called food:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 3:11 And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto HaShem.

As the stomach is slightly off-center, so, too, is the altar slightly off-center.

Notice that we speak of the stomach as having “heart-burn”, just as the altar burns, so our stomach burns.

Umbilical cord = The smoke from the altar

As the smoke originated on the altar and exited the Beit HaMikdash from the altar, so too does the umbilical cord connect to the stomach and exit from the stomach.

Esophagus = Altar Ramp.

The sacrifices were carried up the ramp and laid on the altar. Even so, the food is carried by the esophagus to the stomach.

Sex organs = Fifteen steps between the men’s and women’s courtyards.

The Levitical choir would sing the fifteen Psalms / Songs of Ascent while standing on these fifteen steps, during Succoth. Succoth is, of course, the quintessential picture of the marital chamber. The words of the Levites represent the sperm and the music represents the semen. The movements of the Levitical choir represents the thrusts of the organ.

Next to these semi-circular steps were two rooms used to store the musical instruments. These seem to represent the testes. They are the instruments from which the music originates. The music gives force to the lyrics.

Skin = Wall

Ashes = Waste Product.

The ashes were stored in the center of the brazen altar until carried outside the camp. Even so, the waste product of a man is connected to the stomach and exits at the center of the body.

Fetus = Giant lampstands In the Courtyard

Another ceremony of Succoth, the illumination of the Temple, also had it’s source in Jewish tradition. According to the Mishna, at the end of the first day of Tabernacles, the priests and Levites went down to the court of the women. Four enormous golden candlesticks were set up in the court (fifty cubits high) with four golden bowls placed upon them and four ladders resting against each. Four youths of priestly descent stood at the top of the ladders holding ten-gallon pitchers filled with pure oil, which they poured into each bowl.[25]

The priests and Levites used their own worn-out liturgical clothing for wicks. The light emanating from the four candelabra was so bright that the Mishna says:

Succah 5:3 There was not a courtyard in Jerusalem that was not illuminated by the light of the Beit HaSho’eivah (libation water-well ceremony).

Mishlei (Proverbs) 20:27 A man’s soul is the lamp of HaShem.

A lamp is contrived of two parts: the oil, which corresponds to the soul, and the wick, which corresponds to the body. Together, they sustain the flame, which is the Torah. The more the oil is clean and pure, the more beautiful the flame will light. The finer the wick, the more a person’s body will readily accept purity, the more the light will continue to shine.

These “candles” are a good picture of a human baby. They have oil, wick, and flame, which is like a human being. These lamps are also an allusion to Mashiach:

Yochanan (John) 8:12 When Yeshua spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Chazal teach that the arms and legs are exterior to our bodies and are only used to “go” and to “do”. This helps us to understand why the Beit HaMikdash does not have appendages to represent legs or arms.

The Mishkan, unlike the Temple, was represented by Adam and Chava (Eve) before HaShem separated them. Thus there was no women’s courtyard in the Mishkan.

The Luz Connection

The Beit HaMikdash is the “neck” of the world.

Berachoth 30a Our Rabbis taught: A blind man or one who cannot tell the cardinal points should direct his heart towards his Father in Heaven, as it says, And they pray unto the Lord. If oneis standing outside Palestine, he should turn mentally towards Eretz Israel, as it says, And pray unto Thee towards their land. If he stands in Eretz Israel he should turn mentally towardsJerusalem, as it says, And they pray unto the Lord toward the city which Thou hast chosen. If he is standing in Jerusalem he should turn mentally towards the Sanctuary, as it says, If theypray toward this house. If he is standing in the Sanctuary, he should turn mentally towards the Holy of Holies, as it says, If they pray toward this place. If he was standing in the Holy of Holies he should turn mentally towards the mercy-seat. If he was standing behind the mercy-seat he should imagine himself to be in front of the mercy-seat. Consequently, if he is in the east he should turn his face to the west; if in the west he should turn his face to the east; if in the south he should turn his face to the north; if in the north he should turn his face to the south. In this way all Israel will be turning their hearts towards one place. R. Abin — or as some say R. Abina — said: What text confirms this? — Thy neck is like the tower of David builded with turrets [talpioth], the elevation [tel][26] towards which all mouths (piyyoth) turn.

Megilah 16b And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck.[27] How many necks[28] had Benjamin? — R. Eleazar said: He wept for the two Temples which were destined to be in the territory of Benjamin[29] and to be destroyed. And Benjamin wept upon his neck: he wept for the tabernacle of Shiloh which was destined to be in the territory of Joseph and to be destroyed.

Midrash Rabbah - The Song of Songs IV:12 THY NECK IS LIKE THE TOWER OF DAVID: this refers to the Temple. Why is it compared to a neck? Because so long as the Temple wasstanding, Israel’s neck was stretched out among the nations of the world, but when the Temple was destroyed, then, if one may say so, Israel’s neck was bowed; and so it is written, And I will break the pride of your power (Lev. XXII, 19), namely, the Temple. Another explanation: Just as a man’s neck is in the highest part of him, so the Temple was in the highest part of the world. And just as most ornaments are hung round the neck, so the priests were attached to the Temple, the Levites were attached to the Temple. And just as, if the neck is removed,a man cannot live, so since the Temple was destroyed there has been no life for the enemies of Israel.

The Midrash has this to say about the luz bone:

Midrash Rabbah - Leviticus XVIII:1 And the almond shall blossom refers to the luz (nut) of the spinal column. Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, asked R. Joshua b. Hananiah, saying: ‘From which part of the body will the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Time to Come, cause man to sprout forth? ‘ He answered: ‘ From the nut of the spinal column.’ Said he: ‘How can you convince me?’ He thereupon brought one before him; he put it in water, but it was not dissolved; he let it pass through millstones, but it was not ground; he put it in fire, but it was not burnt; he put it on an anvil and began beating it with a hammer, but the anvil was flattened out, and the hammer was split, but all this had no effect.

The Mishkan (not the Temple) as a Body:

The Mishkan (the Tabernacle in the wilderness) alludes to the human body. Rambam thus wrote the following to his son:

My son Avraham, you must realize that the Mishkan alludes to the human body.

The Holy Ark, the innermost part, alludes to the human heart, which is the innermost part of the body. The Ark was the main part of the Mishkan because it contained the Tablets of the Covenant. So, too, is the human heart the main part of the body. It is the source of his life, his knowledge and his understanding. The wings of the keruvim, which spread over the Ark, allude to the lungs. The lungs are over the heart like wings and they provide it with air. The Table in the Mishkan alludes to the human stomach. Just as food and drink are placed on the table, so the stomach is filled withfood and drink that a person consumes and from there it is distributed to the other parts of the body.

The Menorah (candlestick) in the Mishkan alludes to the human mind. Just as the Menorah gives forth light, so the intellect enlightens the entire body. Three stems went out from the Menorah on each side. These allude to the three limbs that extend from each side of the human body, the eye, the ear, and the hand. The intellect directs these three parts of the body. The incense altar alludes to the sense of smell. The sacrificial altar alludes to the intestines, which digest the food that enters the body. The veil covering the Mishkan alludes to the diaphragm, which is like a barrier between the parts of the body. The washstand alludes to the moisture and other liquids in the body. The goats’ wool hangings allude to the skin that covers the human body. The beams of theMishkan allude to the ribs.[30]

The Beit HaMikdash is Female

The parts of the Beit HaMikdash all are in the feminine gender, in Hebrew. This suggests that the structure and it’s utensils are part of a female body. This aspect is further emphasized when we note that the Torah calls a man’s wife his “house”.[31] A wife is a house. Thus, the Beit HaMikdash, “The House of the Holy One”, would also be female.

If one looks at the form of the Beit HaMikdash as emphasized by the courtyards, we can see that the Woman’s courtyard is the largest courtyard, and it is at the “bottom” of the structure. This mirrors the female body which has the largest part at the bottom of the structure. Please remember that the arms and legs are not part of the structure, only the head and torso.

Creation and the Mikdash

By Rav Yitzchak Levi

The Mikdash as the competion of creation.

An aspect of the connection between the creation of the world and the Mikdash is the idea that the Mishkan and the Mikdash are the goal of creation, and it was only with their construction that creation was completed. For example:

Another explanation: “So was ended all the work” (I Melakhim 7:51; II Divrei Ha-yamim 5:1) – it does not say here “the work,” but rather “all the work:” the work of the six days of creation. “From all His work that God had created and formed (la-asot, lit. ‘to form’)” (Bereshit 2:3) – it does not say here “and formed,” but rather “to form:” there is still another work. When Shlomo came and built the Temple, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Now the work of heaven and earth is complete – “So was ended all the work.” Therefore he was called Shlomo, for the Holy One, blessed be He, completed (hishlim) the work of the six days of creation through his handiwork.[32]

Another explanation: “Who has established all the ends of the earth” (Mishlei 30:4) – this refers to Moshe, who established the Tent of Meeting, with which the world was established. It does not say “to set up the Mishkan,” but rather “to set up with the Mishkan” (le-hakim et ha-mishkan” (Bamidbar 7:1) – the world was set up with it. For until the Mishkan was erected, the world was unstable; but after it was erected, the world became firm. Therefore it says: “And it came to pass on the day that Moshe had finished setting up (with) the Mishkan.”[33]

“To set up the Mishkan”… There we have learned (Avot 1:2): The world stands on three things – on the Torah, on the Divine service, and on acts of loving-kindness. And Moshe mentioned all three of them inone verse: “You in Your loving-kindness have led forth Your people whom you have redeemed” (Shemot 15:13) – this is loving-kindness; “You have guided them in Your strength” – this is the Torah…; “To Your holy habitation” – this is the service in the Mishkan and in the Mikdash… He guided them by virtue of the Torah which they had received before the erection of the Mishkan. What was the world like at that time? It was like a stool with two legs, which cannot stand and is unstable. When a third leg was made for it, it became firm and it stood. So, too, when the Mishkan was made… immediately, it became firm and stood. For at first the world had only two legs, loving-kindness and the Torah, and it was unstable. When a third leg was made for it, namely, the Mishkan, it immediately stood. (Bamidbar Rabba, parasha12)[34]

According to the midrashim, the Mishkan and the Mikdash are essentially a continuation of the creation and its completion. Before they were built, the world was lacking, and the goal of creation had not been attained. Moreover, before the Mikdash was built, the existence of the world was not absolute and stable, for the world rests, among other things, upon the Divine service, the heart of which is in the Temple.

Parallels between the creation of the world and the construction of the Mishkan.

This connection finds expression in Scripture in a number of stylistic parallels between the Mishkan and creation:

1) Both are called melakha, “work” (Bereshit 2:2-3; Shemot 31:3, 5; and many other places).

2) The root, ayin-sin-heh, repeats itself many times in both contexts.

3) Wisdom, understanding and knowledge:

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens. By knowledge the depths were broken up. (Mishlei 3:19-20)

See, I have called by name Betzalel… And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship (Shemot 31:2-3)[35]

4) ”Seeing” at the completion of the work:

And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was good. (Bereshit 1:31)

And Moshe saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so they had done it. (Shemot 39:43)

5) Completion of the work:

Then the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host. And by the seventh day God ended the work which He had done. (Bereshit 2:1-2)

Thus was the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting finished: and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moshe, so they did… So Moshe finished the work. (Shemot 39:32; 40:33)

6) A blessing at the completion of the work:

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and performed. (Bereshit 2:3)

And Moshe saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded, even so they had done it: and Moshe blessed them. (Shemot 39:43)

7) Ending with the sanctity of Shabbat (Bereshit 2:1-3; Shemot 31:12-17).

Chazal noted these parallels in several places. The Tanchuma draws a parallel between the order of creation and the order of the building of the Mishkan:

Rav Yaakov be-Rav Asi said: Why does it say: “Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells” (Tehilim 26:8)? Because it is equivalent to the creation of the world. How so?

On the first day it says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Bereshit 1:1); and it says: “Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (Tehilim 104:2). And regarding the Mishkan, what does it say - “And you shall make curtains of goats’ hair” (Shemot 26:7).

On the second day, “Let there be a firmament” (Bereshit 1:6), and it mentions division, as it is stated: “And let it divide water from water.” And regarding the Mishkan, it says: “And the veil shall be for you as a division” (Shemot 26:33).

On the third day, it mentions water, as it says: “Let the waters be gathered” (Bereshit 1:9). And regarding the Mishkan, it says: “You shall also make a laver of brass, and its pedestal also of brass… and you shall put water in it” (Shemot 30:18).

On the fourth day, He created the lights, as it says: “Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven” (Bereshit 1:14). And regarding the Mishkan, it says: “And you shall make a candlestick of pure gold” (Shemot25:31).

On the fifth day, He created the birds, as it is stated: “Let the waters swarm abundantly with moving creatures that have life, and let birds fly above” (Bereshit 1:20). And corresponding to them in the Mikdash –offering sacrifices from sheep and birds.

On the sixth day, man was created, as it says: “So God created man in his own image” (Bereshit 1:27) – He formed him with dignity. And regarding the Mishkan it says “man,” namely, the High Priest who was anointed to serve and attend before God.

On the seventh day: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished” (Bereshit 2:1). And regarding the Mishkan, it says: “And all the work was finished.”

Regarding the creation of the world, it says: “And God blessed” (Bereshit 1:28). And regarding the Mishkan, it says: “And Moshe blessed them” (Shemot 39:43). Regarding the creation of the world, it says: “And God ended” (Bereshit 2:2), and regarding the Mishkan, it says: “And it happened on the day that it was finished.” Regarding the creation of the world, it says: “And He sanctified it” (Bereshit 2:3), and regarding the Mishkan, it says: “And Moshe anointed it and sanctified it.”

Why is the Mishkan equivalent to the heavens and the earth? Just as the heavens and the earth testify about Israel, as it says: “I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you” (Devarim 30:19), so theMishkan is testimony to Israel, as it is stated: “These are the accounts of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the testimony” (Shemot 38:21).

Therefore, it says: “Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells”[36]

The Midrash Ha-Gadol at the end of Parashat Pekudei explains how the Mishkan completes the creation:

“Then a cloud covered the Tent of Meeting” (Shemot 40:34) – this is what it means when it says: “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it for ever” (Tehilim 37:29). Rav Yitzchak said: “The righteous shall inherit the land” – and where are the wicked? Hanging in the air? Rather what is “and dwell in it for ever” – they will cause the Shekhina to dwell in it.

The Shekhina was originally in the lower world. When the first man sinned, it retreated to the first firmament. The generation of Enosh arose and sinned, and it retreated from the first to the second firmament. The generation of the flood arose and sinned, and it retreated from the second to the third firmament. The generation of the dispersion arose and sinned, and it retreated from the third to the fourth firmament. The Egyptians in the days of Avraham sinned, and it retreated from the fourth to the fifth firmament. The Sodomites sinned, and it retreated from the fifth to the sixth [firmament].The Egyptians in the days of Moshe sinned, and it retreated from the sixth to the seventh [firmament].

And corresponding to them, seven righteous men arose and brought [the Shekhina] down to earth. Avraham arose and acted virtuously, and brought it down from the seventh to the sixth [firmament]. Yitzchakarose and acted virtuously, and brought it down from the sixth to the fifth [firmament]. Yaakov arose and acted virtuously, and brought it down from the fifth to the fourth [firmament]. Levi arose and acted virtuously, and brought it down from the fourth to the third [firmament]. Kehat arose and acted virtuously, and brought it down from the third to the second [firmament]. Amram arose and acted virtuously, and brought it down from the second to the first [firmament]. Moshe arose and acted virtuously, and brought it down to the earth, as it is stated: “And the Glory of the Lord filled the Mishkan” (Shemot 40:34).

The midrash in Shemot Rabba (35, 1) states that certain things were created solely for the sake of the Mishkan:

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: The world was not worthy of using gold; why then was it created? For the Mishkan and for the Mikdash, as it is stated: “And the gold of that land is good” (Bereshit 2:12), and as it is stated: “That goodly mountain and the Levanon” (Devarim 3:25)… Rav Chanina said: The world was not worthy of using cedars. They were created solely for the Mishkan and for the Mikdash, as it is stated: “The trees of the Lord have their fill; the cedars of Levanon, which He has planted” (Tehilim 104:16), and Levanon refers to the Mikdash, as it is stated: “This goodly mountain and the Levanon.”

The Maharal, in his Gur Arye on the commentary of Rashi regarding the offering brought by Netanel the son of Tzo’ar, brings an interesting allusion to this matter. The Torah states:

On the second day, Netanel, the son of Tzo’ar, prince of Yissakhar, did offer: he offered for his offering one silver dish, the weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering, one spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense, one young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year, for aburnt offering, one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs of the first year. This was the offering of Netanel the son of Tzo’ar. (Bamidbar 7:18-23)

On this Rashi comments (ad loc.):

One silver dish (ke’arat kesef) – The numerical value of its letters [= of the letters of these two words] is 930, corresponding to the years of the first man [= Adam].

The weight of which was a hundred and thirty shekels – In allusion to the fact that when he [Adam] first raised children to maintain the world in existence he was 130 years old, for it is said: “And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years and then begat a son” (Bereshit 5:3).

One silver bowl (mizrak echad kesef) – The numerical value of these words is 520, being an allusion to Noach who begot children at the age of 500 and also an allusion to the twenty years before his offspring were born when the decree regarding the flood was made, just as I have set forth in my comment upon the verse: “Yet his days shall be 120 years” (Bereshit 6:3)…

Seventy shekels – Corresponding to the seventy nations that descended from his [= Noach’s] sons.

One spoon (kaf achat; the word kaf also denotes “hand”) – in allusion to the Torah that was given from the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He.

Of gold of ten shekels – Corresponding to the Ten Commandments.

Full of incense – The total of the word ketoret according to the numerical value of its letters is 613, the number of the biblical commandments, except you must exchange the kof by dalet, according to the “method of permutations” known as a”t b”sh g”r d”k [by which the first letter of the alphabet may take the place of the last, the second that of the one before the last, etc.].

One young bullock – In allusion to Avraham, of whom it states: “And he took a young bullock” (Bereshit 18:7).

One ram – In allusion to Yitzchak, with reference to whom Scripture states: “And he took the ram, etc.” (Bereshit 22:13).

One lamb – In allusion to Yaakov, of whom Scripture states: “And Yaakov separated the lambs” (Bereshit 30:40).

One kid of the goats – In order to make expiation for the selling of Yosef, with reference to whom it states: “And they slaughtered a kid of the goats” (Bereshit 37:31).

And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen – In allusion to Moshe and Aharon, who made peace between Israel and their Father in heaven.

Five rams, five he goats, five lambs – Three species in allusion to the three divisions of the nation: priests, Levites and ordinary Israelites, and also in allusion to the Torah, the Prophets and the Hagiographa. There are three times five, in allusion to the five books of the Torah, the five commandments written on one of the Tablets, and to the five written on the other. Thus far I found in the work of Rabbi Moshe ha-Darshan.

The Maharal in his Gur Arye (ad loc.) comments as follows:

If you ask, what is the connection here to the years of Adam and Noach – it might be suggested that the building of the Mishkan is equivalent to the creation of the world, and everything that was in the creationof the world was in the building of the Mishkan. There were curtains in the Mishkan, as in the whole world: “Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain” (Tehilim 104:2). And just as the stars appeared, so the clasps appeared in the Mishkan… And therefore all the foundations of the world, namely, Adam, Noach, the seventy nations, the Torah, and the Ten Commandments, upon which the entire world stands, are alluded to in the Mishkan, so that the Mishkan be like the entire world.

Expressions of the creation of the world in the Mikdash.

Halakha offers two examples of daily mentioning of the creation of the world in the Temple. First, during the week of each ma’amad, its members would read the story of the creation, corresponding to the days of the week:

On the first day: “In the beginning” and “Let there be a firmament.” On the second day: “Let there be a firmament” and “Let the waters be gathered together.” On the third day: “Let the waters be gatheredtogether” and “Let there be lights.” On the fourth day: “Let there be lights” and “Let the waters swarm abundantly.” On the fifth day: “Let the waters swarm abundantly” and “Let the earth bring forth. On the sixthday: “Let the earth bring forth” and “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.”

The second example is the song that the Levites would sing in the Temple each day, which would bring to mind the creation of the world:

It was taught: Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of Rabbi Akiva: On the first day [of the week] what did they say? “The earth and its entire contents belong to the Lord” (Tehilim 24:1), because He acquired and transferred possession and ruled over His world.

On the second day what did they say? “Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised” (ibid. 48:2), because He divided up His works and ruled as king over them.

On the third day they would say: “God stands in the Divine assembly” (ibid. 82:1), because He revealed the land with His wisdom and prepared the world for His assembly.

On the fourth day they would say: “God of retribution, Lord” (ibid. 94:1), because He created the sun and the moon and in the future will punish those who worshipped them.

On the fifth day they would say: “Sing aloud to God our strength” (ibid. 81:2), because He created the birds and the fish to praise His name.

On the sixth day they would say: “The Lord is King; He is robed in majesty” (ibid. 93:1), because he finished His work and ruled as king over them.

On the seventh day they would say: “A song for the Sabbath day” (ibid. 92:1), for the day which will be all Sabbath. (Rosh ha-Shana 31a)

(Translated by David Strauss)

The following table comes from the Midrash Rabbah on Bamidbar 12:13. It shows that for each day of creation we have a corresponding part of the Mishkan that reflects that creation:

In Creation	In the Mikdash
In the beginning God created the heaven (Bereshit 1:1) Who stretchest out theheaven like a curtain (Tehillim 56:2)	And thou shalt make curtains of goat’s hair for a tent over the Tabernacle, etc. (Shemot 26:7)
Let there be a firmament... and let it divide, etc. (Bereshit 1:6)	The veil shall divide unto you (Shemot 26:33)
Let the waters under theheaven be gathered together (Bereshit 1:9)	Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, whereat to wash, etc. (Shemot 30:18)
Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven(Bereshit 1:14)	Thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold, etc. (Shemot 25:31)
Let fowl fly above the earth, etc. (Bereshit 1:20)	The cherubim shall spread out their wings (Shemot 25:20)
On the sixth day man was created. (Bereshit 1:26)	Bring thou near unto thee Aaron thy brother (Shemot 28:1)
And the heaven and the earth were finished (Bereshit 2:1)	Thus was finished all the work of the Tabernacle, etc. (Shemot 39:32)

Conclusion

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Yeshua Mashiach. 6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Ziona chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stonewhich the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Consider that if the Beit HaMikdash has the parts and organs of the body, then it must also have some places that are more sensitive than other parts. In the same way that we can not feel our liver or pancreasand we can feel even dust in our eyes.

A SONG OF INAUGURATION

Chanukah is the celebration of the re-dedication of the altar of the Temple in the days of the Maccabees. Sephardim recite Tehillim (Psalms) 30 after we kindle the Chanukah lamps. Tehillim 30 is titled: Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit L’David, A Psalm, a Song for the Inauguration of the Temple by David. Chazal[37] calls this Psalm the Shir Shel Yom for Chanukah, The song for the Day of Chanukah.

In reviewing this Chapter, it is fascinating to note that it begins as A Song for the inauguration of the Temple, yet it thereafter makes no mention of the Beit HaMikdash whatsoever! Additionally, it is curious that we recite this Chapter of Temple inauguration at the outset of each day of Chanukah, notwithstanding that we are not present in a new or rededicated Beit HaMikdash at that moment.

We may gain some insight into this Chapter of Mizmor Shir from the fact that David HaMelech (King) is its author. We all know that David HaMelech did not build the Beit HaMikdash, but that instead his son, Shlomo HaMelech did, four years after David’s passing. How then, could David sing the song of its inauguration?

HaRav Avraham Chaim Feuer, Shlita, in his masterful work on Tehillim[38], brings the Malbim to explain these questions. The Malbim suggests that the HaBayit (The House) referred to at the beginning of the Chapter, is not, in fact, the Beit HaMikdash. Rather, it refers to the human body which houses its soul. HaRav Mordechai Gifter, z”tl, adds that the Torah considers the human body, if it has been sanctified, to bea miniature Temple as the Pasuk states:

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8 And they shall make for me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell within them” i.e., not within it [the Sanctuary] but within them [the people themselves].

With this principle we can now understand how David HaMelech could recite this Psalm never having seen the Beit HaMikdash; why no further reference to the Beit HaMikdash at all is made in this Psalm; and why this Psalm inaugurates our prayers every single day. It is not the Beit HaMikdash that we are inaugurating, but by recitation of this Chapter, it is ourselves that we are dedicating and rededicating.

This suggests that the reason that the Beit HaMikdash was designed to mimic the human body, is to remind us that HaShem wants to dwell in us. Further we can understand in a larger sense that HaShem want todwell in Mashiach who embodies all Israel. This takes us back to Gan Eden when HaShem walked with Adam in the garden. In this final scenario, HaShem will walk with the second Adam in Gan Eden.

Pictures

Ezra's Temple, Herod's Temple and Ezekiel's vision of the Third Temple

Maseches Midos

AN ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF THE PLACES MENTIONED IN MASECHET MIDOT, WITH THE NUMBER THAT CORRESPONDS TO THAT PLACE IN THE TIFERET YISRAEL’S DIAGRAM.

Achorei Beit ha’Kaporet #38
Amah Teraksin #73
Amudim Nanasin #44
Aron #75
Bein ha’Ulam vela’Mizbe’ach #53
Beit Avtinas #34
Beit ha’Chalifot #59
Beit ha’Mitbechayim #44
Beit ha’Moked #43
Beit ha’Moked ha’Katan #43(NW)
Beit ha’Nitzotz #40
Beit Horadas ha’Mayim #66
Chamesh Esrei Ma’alot #16
Cheil #8
Duchan #25
Ezras ha’Nashim #10
Ezrat Yisrael #22
Har ha’Bayit #1
Heichal #67
Kanei Zahav #72
Kevesh #48
Kifonot #6
Kiyor #52
Kodesh ha’Kodashim #74
Koslot Shel Ulam #54
Leshachot Hayu Tachas Ezrat Yisrael #17
Lishkah of the Avnei Mizbe’ach #43(NE)
Lishkat Beis Shemanyah #14
Lishkat ha’Eitzim #12
Lishkat ha’Etz #28
Lishkat ha’Gazis #27
Lishkat ha’Golah #29
Lishkat ha’Korban #43(SW)
Lishkat ha’Medichim #32
Lishkat ha’Melach #30
Lishkat ha’Metzora’im #13
Lishkat ha’Nezirim #11
Lishkat ha’Parochet (location not known)
Lishkat ha’Parvah #31
Lishkat Osei Chavitin #21
Lishkat Osei Lechem ha’Panim #43(SE)
Lishkat Parhedrin #28
Lishkat Pinchas ha’Malbish #20
Lishkat Sanhedrei Ketanah (of Har ha’Bayit) #4
Lishkat Sanhedrei Ketanah (of the Ezrat Nashim) #15
Lishkat Tela’ei Korban #43(SW)
Lul #64
Machtah #50
Menorah #70
Mesibah #65
Mizbach ha’Zahav #71
Mizbe’ach #47
Nanasin #44
Pischo Shel Heichal #61
Pischo Shel Ulam #55
Pishpeshim (of the Beis ha’Chalifos) #60
Roshei Pispesin #23
Sha’ar Beit ha’Moked #43
Sha’ar ha’Bechorot #35
Sha’ar ha’Delek #36
Sha’ar ha’Elyon #37
Sha’ar ha’Korban #41
Sha’ar ha’Mayim #33
Sha’ar ha’Mizrach (of Ezrat Nashim) #9
Sha’ar ha’Mizrachi #3
Sha’ar ha’Nashim #42
Sha’ar ha’Nitzotz #40
Sha’ar ha’Shir #43
Sha’ar Nikanor #18
Sha’ar Tadi #5
Sha’ar Yechanyah #40
Sha’arei Chuldah #2
Shnei Pishpeshim (of Sha’ar Nikanor) #19
Shnei Pishpeshim ba’Ma’arav #39
Shnei Pishpeshin (shel Sha’ar ha’Heichal) #62
Shnei Shulchanot (in the Ulam) #57, 58
Shnei Shulchanot (near the Mizbe’ach) #51
Shulchan #69
Shulchanot Shel Shayish #45
Soreg #7
Ta’im #63
Taba’ot #46
Tadi #5
Tavlah shel Shayish (of the Shisin) #49
Tavlah Shel Shayish (for Mei Sotah) #68
Ulam #56

Bibliography

Rabbi Moshe Hayym Luzzato on the mystical anthropomorphism of the Temple. His book is called Mishkaney Elyon (“Dwellings of the Supreme”) [Secrets of the Future Temple] and a commentary by Rabbi Mordechay Shriqi of Jerusalem even takes the analysis further in terms of research.

Commentaries of the Gaon of Vilna and the Malbim on the Mishkan.

* * *

This study was written by

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

(Greg Killian).

Comments may be submitted to:

Rabbi Dr. Greg Killian

4544 Highline Drive SE

Olympia, WA 98501

Internet address: gkilli@aol.com

Web page: http://www.betemunah.org/

(360) 918-2905

Return to The WATCHMAN home page

Send comments to Greg Killian at his email address: gkilli@aol.com

[1] Strive for Truth, vol. III, by Rabbi Eliyahu E. Dessler, rendered into English by Aryeh Carmell.

[2] Shemot (Exodus) 25:8

[3] Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:16

[4] Shemot (Exodus) 29:42

[5] Tehillim (Psalms) 2:11

[6] Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:7

[7] Eruvim 2a

[8] Tehillim (Psalms) 2:11

[9] Tanna de-Be Eliyahu Rabba #3.

[10] MISHKAN = MAKOM + SHEKHINAH. Makom = Place and Shekhinah = The Presence of HaShem.

[11] According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. LXVII, Issue 14, 1037-1038, September 30, 1916 – there are 248 bones in the body.

[12] Makkoth 23b

[13] see Ohaloth 1:8 for the list of the 248 bones counted by Chazal.

[14] Reckoning from the ankle to the tip of the toe and in the case of the hand, from the wrist to the finger tips.

[15] Socket of the hip bone.

[16] The chest, so called according to Maim, because by its movements it causes the lungs to breathe upon the heart, opening the way for fresh air.

[17] Defined (Kel. 1.5) as sufficient to form the basis of a growth of healing flesh if the member were part of a living organism.

[18] For a detailed account of the criticism to which this Mishna has been subjected from a medical point of view and for an anatomical commentary on the terminology v. Katzenelsohn, I. L. Talmud und Medizin (Berlin 1928) pp. 234-303. On p. 257 he states, ‘The Rabbinical numeration accords exactly with the number of bones in a seventeen year old male’. That the anatomical knowledge of the Rabbis was based on practical experiments by dissection is known from Bek. 45a.’ ‘The disciples of R. Ishmael dissected the body of a prostitute who had been condemned to death by the government. By examination they found two hundred and fifty-two members’. Four were deducted as being found in the female but not in the male body, thus obtaining the figure 248. V. also J.E. VIII, p. 410 and Preuss, Biblische u. Talmudische Medizin, pp. 66f., who criticizes Katzenelsohn’s views.

[19] New Testament

[20] Based on the Malbim’s R’mazai Hamishkan and The Holy Temple Revisited, Rabbi L. Reznick

[21] 10^th century, Babylon.

[22] Commentary to Shemot 25:7

[23] Bamidbar 7:88

[24] The building containing the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

[25] Succah 5:2

[26] Taken as an expression for the Temple.

[27] Bereshit (Genesis) 45:14.

[28] The Heb. צוארי can also be taken as a plural. [Rashi omits this question. He did not regard the exposition that follows as being based upon the supposed difference in the grammatical form. the neck is simply taken as allusion to the Temple.]

[29] On the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

[30] The Torah Anthology (Volume 10) – Meam Loez, by Yaakov Culi.

[31] Consider that a man’s favorite place is inside his wife while making love. Their children will begin life inside the wife. Therefore the wife is a house for her husband and a house for their children. The wife is a house.

[32] Pesikta Rabbati, parasha 6

[33] Midrash Mishlei, parasha 30, letter 4

[34] See also Pesikta Rabbati 5; Midrash Ha-gadol, Shemot 40:18; Tanchuma, Naso 19.

[35] This parallel was noted by the midrash, Shemot Rabba 48, 4.

[36] Tanchuma Pekudei 2

[37] Sofrim 18:2

[38] Artscroll, Volume 1, p. 357-359

Mashiach

julho 15, 2012

A verdade sobre o templo dos últimos dias / Israel's Future Third and Fourth Temples

Extraído do livro A Verdade Sobre O Templo dos Últimos Dias

• Um templo judeu em Jerusalém e no Monte do Templo é importante hoje? • E os sacrifícios do templo? • Qual o papel do Anticristo?

The Temple Of Ezekiel

Background

The Third and Fourth Jewish Temples

Features Unique to Ezekiel's Temple

References

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Long Page—Please Scroll Down...

Aerial photo of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem showing the Proposed Northern,
Central and Southern Sites for the First and Second Temples.

Brief Summary of the Problem of Locating the Temple Site

Where Were the First and Second Temples Located?

Evidence for the Temple Location South of the Dome of the Rock

Tuvia Sagiv's Research Papers

History of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

Related Website Links

Reference Links

Other Interesting Links

The Beit HaMikdash

A Critical Connection

The Temple as a Body [20]

The Luz Connection

The Mishkan (not the Temple) as a Body:

The Beit HaMikdash is Female

Creation and the Mikdash

Conclusion

Pictures

julho 15, 2012

Extraído do livro A Verdade Sobre O Templo dos Últimos Dias

• Um templo judeu em Jerusalém e no Monte do Templo é importante hoje? • E os sacrifícios do templo? • Qual o papel do Anticristo?

The Temple Of Ezekiel

Background

The Third and Fourth Jewish Temples

Features Unique to Ezekiel's Temple

References

The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Long Page—Please Scroll Down...

Aerial photo of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem showing the Proposed Northern,Central and Southern Sites for the First and Second Temples.

Brief Summary of the Problem of Locating the Temple Site

Where Were the First and Second Temples Located?

Evidence for the Temple Location South of the Dome of the Rock

Tuvia Sagiv's Research Papers

History of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount

Related Website Links

Reference Links

Other Interesting Links

The Temple as a Body[20]

The Mishkan (not the Temple) as a Body:

Creation and the Mikdash

Aerial photo of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem showing the Proposed Northern,
Central and Southern Sites for the First and Second Temples.

The Temple as a Body [20]